Peace and Power

By Marianne Peña

One of my favorite shirts is one that says, “Support wildlife, raise boys.” It’s not meant to be offensive, but please humor me. Parents around the world with multiple boys at home, specifically with no girls to break up the testosterone, understand me. Raising children of both genders and ages is hard, but when asked how it’s going with three growing boys under one roof, my response is usually, “interesting.” That is a nice way to say, “It is WILD!” (Hence, why I am supporting wildlife.)

I know I give many people something to talk about when I am strolling through the aisles of a store ignoring the fact that a full-on war is happening behind me (about who should push the cart no less). I am constantly looking for new “tried and true” ideas that only work for a moment. I find that none of these ideas can bring lasting peace. I find myself always going back to the one thing that helps me cope with the wild … prayer. If I’m honest, it is usually in anguish before the Lord, “I need your help, come and get your kids!”

_

“Sometimes it feels as though my kids were born with a need for war inside of them”.

_m `

Peace, as the world describes it (freedom from disturbance; tranquility), is not what I would use to describe a normal day in our home or a normal car ride to/from school. Sometimes it feels as though my kids were born with a need for war inside of them.

It isn’t too far from the truth of humanity. Although some of us may not have fought on the battlefield for our country nor endured years of war crippling a nation and families, we were born with a need for war inside of us. We have a need to war against God. Humanity has been at war with God, rebelling against His commands, resisting His plan for us since the fall. But we have good news, don’t we?

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Jesus has paved the way for us to have peace with God instead of war.

Throughout the Old Testament we see that the Israelites were constantly crying out to God for peace. They lived in turmoil for so many years, in a cycle of war and peace over so many generations.

During this time of year, we usually think about peace. When people think of Christmas, they may recall verses like the one in Luke, where the angels announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, and a host of angels shows up declaring glory to God in the highest and peace on earth (Luke 2:14). There are countless songs surrounding peace. Peace is such a buzz word in our world — something that everyone is talking about. Humanity craves peace.

Spirit-Empowered

We want peace and can’t seem to find it. Maybe it is because we keep searching in the wrong place. But it is the Spirit in us that gives us power to live and walk in peace.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). The Holy Spirit makes God’s character and nature alive in us and through us. Isn’t that what it means that peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22)?

_

“… peace is not something that we can create or birth on our own.”

_m `

The simple yet nonetheless profound truth is that through the Holy Spirit, God is birthing in us and giving us access to His very nature — to the norms of the kingdom.

It’s true that this may be elementary, taking you back to your Sunday school class, but peace is not something that we can create or birth on our own. Well wishes can’t do it. It would be ridiculous for me to expect bananas from a rose bush. In the same way, peace, not as the world gives, can only come from the Spirit.

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:26-27).

It is the Holy Spirit who grants us power (dynamis — ability and the residing in a thing by virtue of its nature) to live in peace. He gives us the ability to reside in God according to His nature. Plainly speaking, the Holy Spirit gives us what God has.

My family recently moved to the Houston area to plant a church. We are originally from Miami. Aside from the consistent heat, our summers are marked by hurricane season. From June until the end of November, we are on “watch” for the next hurricane coming out of the tropics. We joke about it, but if you live in an older home or neighborhood, you would be wise to have a generator in case you lose power. The great thing about generators is that they are ready to jump in when you lose power. They will help you harness electricity for those important appliances. They are great; yet, as great as they are, they are not meant to be used all day long, all year long. They could never be a long-term solution to an electrical shortage. Eventually, an electrician or electrical engineer has to fix the issues and restore power.

As I think about the need and deep desire for peace, I realize that I have used and treated the Spirit as a backup generator. What a great Spirit, with enough wattage to power up the world and change humanity, but he’s only the backup. He only steps in when there is no other option. When the “real” thing needs help. How sad is that? What a waste of power.

In our world, there is such a hunger for power. So much emphasis is put on the distribution of power, hoping that if a proper balance could be found, then everything is at peace. In theory this sounds well, perhaps for the world. Yet for those called and led by the Spirit, it is actually a surrender to the Spirit, to His power, which provides peace. The kind that the world can’t give because it isn’t earthly, but supernatural.

_

“The power of the Spirit is demonstrated in us through peace.”

_m

The Holy Spirit gives us the power to have peace and conversely, the power of the Spirit is demonstrated in us through peace. The supernatural peace, that we can only access through the Spirit, is the kind that supersedes our understanding and current circumstances (Philippians 4:6-7). The one that is more powerful than life events, missteps, mistakes and ignorance. The kind of peace that provides power to the believer to change surroundings and atmospheres, simply by changing perspective.

What if we tapped into the power, not of wishful thinking and mere declarations, but into a power that can truly change our circumstances by simply changing us. My boys will continue to be wild because it is in their nature, but as I draw near and depend on the Spirit, He will change them and change me as I wait for more civil, domesticated days.

The fruit of the Spirit is peace, changing us and providing a hope that cannot be shaken. That is the power that comes from the Spirit. Peace is possible because Jesus triumphed — He overpowered the world (John 16:33). That is the essence of the gospel.

It is true that some of us are going through difficult times. We have suffered loss, and we are living in turmoil, so much so, that peace seems like a foreign language. I want to encourage you today that you can take heart, because Jesus has already overcome the world. The same power that overcame death and sin and that rose Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) is alive in us today and has given us access to what God has, through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus’ birth ushered in the God of Hope, who can “fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

It is so good to know that the Holy Spirit’s power gives us direct access to the Prince of Peace and Living Hope. It is at work in us today! Now, that gives me something to talk about.

Reflect

How have you seen the power of the Spirit bring peace in your life and surroundings?

How can you make room for peace as you hope and trust in the God of Hope? +